


Superpowers

by vieralynn (sarasa_cat)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Dragon Age Kiss Battle, F/M, Missing Scene, the kiss that could have been...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 07:13:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1183391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarasa_cat/pseuds/vieralynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a conspicuous moment of stillness on the eve of war, Kirkwall's most notable mage suggests to Cullen that he should leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Superpowers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [missema](https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/gifts).



> Written for the 2014 Dragon Age Kiss Battle, prompt: "fem!mage!Hawke/Cullen - superpowers"

“Do you think this will end in war?” Hawke speaks so quietly her words fail to echo against the limestone walls in the main courtyard of the Gallows.  
  
This is the first time Cullen has ever heard the Champion’s voice border on timidness. He tries laughing off her words but all that comes out is a pained tsking sound followed by the hesitant huffing of his breath. Feeling uncertain, he shifts his weight only to be made self-conscious by the loud clanking his armor makes. Across the courtyard, the rapid footfalls of three young templars ring out in a rat-a-tat-tat of echoing shots.  
  
Cullen looks down at his hands rather than meet Hawke’s eyes. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, although the Knight Commander’s actions no longer seem aligned with the purpose of the templar order.”  
  
“The Divine is worried Kirkwall will fall into chaos. She sent agents here to gather information. Some worry a new Imperium will begin here.”  
  
“These are troubled times,” Cullen replies, his words purposefully vague. The city teetered on top of a pile of shifting rumors, concrete information rarer than a desert oasis.  
  
“Do you ever think of leaving?” Hawke asks him.  
  
“I don’t know. I can’t leave the Order, but… I would be lying if I said I wasn’t listening for openings in other circles.”  
  
“Would you transfer back to Ferelden?”  
  
“Maybe. I don’t know. That would be hard.”  
  
“I understand.”  
  
“All these years I thought I became a templar knight so I could make a difference. But now?” Cullen shrugs. He sneaks a sheepish glance at the Champion standing beside him, tall and proud, Kirkwall’s most famous mage. “To be honest, I’m not certain I know what the Order stands for any longer.”  
  
“You should leave while you still can. I would if I could. I’d get all of my friends out.” The way Hawke squints as she looks across the courtyard says far more than her words. Off in the distance, her oddball collection of companions pick through the paltry selection of wares set up for sale by the Gallows’ merchants.  
  
“Surely, Champion, you could do something.”  
  
She lets out a hollow laugh. In the silence that follows, the sounds of a disciplinary action leak out from the gated courtyard up the stairs. Cullen coughs conspicuously and feels like an ass. That is when Hawke leans closer to him, so close her shoulder nearly brushes against his left pauldron. “For all my ability to work magic, it fails to give me superpowers despite what some of your brethren believe.”  
  
“Hawke, I only meant—“  
  
“There is nothing I can do,” she interrupts him, words spoken in monotone. “I would burn the Amell Estate to the ground and take a wrecking ball to that blasted statue of the Champion standing by the harbor. My title is meaningless. Meredith used my reputation to make a public circus out of capturing three mages. She might as well parade me around the city in templar regalia. I’m no Champion. I’m just Kirkwall’s most notable puppet, dancing in a gilded cage while Meredith pulls the strings. There’s only one way out for me but, for you, no one has chained the harbor yet. Ships still come and go. You could leave.”  
  
“I don’t know.” The thought of leaving suddenly seems rash. He cannot fathom how he should respond.  
  
“I cried myself dry of tears after the madness that left Thrask dead. We’re standing inside a tinderbox. Just one more match and…” Her words trail off toward the inevitable.  
  
“I— I just don’t know.”  
  
“You shouldn't stay here,” she says without looking at him.  
  
To Cullen’s surprise, the Champion takes hold of his hand and, for what seems like an eternity, she doesn’t say a word. She stands beside him looking off at nothing in particular.  
  
“I don’t want to be forced to fight against you, Cullen.”  
  
“I know,” he says, feeling oddly certain of this fact.  
  
“Leave Kirkwall while you still can.”  
  
She gives his hand a squeeze before letting go of him. Cullen feels her weight shift as her arm presses against his. He thinks she is about to leave. Instead, she turns her head and kisses him.  
  
That one fleeting moment was no doubt shorter than Cullen remembers it, but as her lips pressed against his, he regretted all the years he had chosen not to know Hawke more closely. By the time he opens his eyes, she is halfway across the courtyard, heading toward the dock. She holds her hand high while flipping an obscene gesture in the direction of Meredith’s office window. The brazenness of Hawke’s honesty almost brings a smile to Cullen’s lips. He thinks he can still taste her on the tip of his tongue.  
  
As she slips from his view, he thinks of her as a bird of prey with clipped wings. He wants to set her free despite every political argument that had come between them in the past.  
  



End file.
